you bring out the curse in me
by stardazzledchic
Summary: do you know that Greek myth about the great musician Orpheus? He was given a CHANCE, and a CONDITION he should abide. The difference between my story to Orpheus? for him it's a condition, but for me it's a CURSE. -Nico Di Angelo
1. synopsis

you know that greek myth about the great musician Orpheus?

about a man attempts to get back his wife named Eurydice from the underworld.

Orpheus was given a chance, a condition he should abide that he can't look at her

while the'yre traveling towards to the mortal world or she'll be dragged back from the underworld.

sadly, their love story ended in a tragedy.

awww.. poor guy (you might say)

you may be wondering,

why am i telling you this?

it's because I can relate.

but how? (you might ask.)

it's quite complicated actually, but i'll tell you more as we progress into the story.

but the thing is, the difference between my story to Orpheus is..

for him it's a condition, but for me it's a curse.

-Nico Di angelo


	2. PROLOGUE

+++++++PROLOGUE++++++++

"YOU NICO DI ANGELO, SON OF HADES, disobeyed and disrespected me! persephone roared.

I bequeath you the curse you'll regret on what you have done to me.

"death touch"

you are forbidden to use your sense of touch and if you try to violate the curse,  
you're not the only who will suffer the consequences.. you'll see di angelo..  
each touch corresponds to a cause.

you shall gain from the touch you give, where in return they will slowly lose of their precious life they have.

a word of caution, my dear stepson,  
the same goes through you, if a living being touches you, you'll inevitably lose your dear life nico.

Isn't the curse great?" persephone giddily asked.

"I'd rather go to the fields of punishment rather than getting your curse!" nico said.

"How dare you! you will regret saying that ' di angelo! you cursed boy!" persephone answered.

"you don't have to be redundant, I am already cursed remember?" nico scowled.

then all of a sudden, nico ran, "I'm tired of that old lady scolding me. "

he ran to the doors to get out planning of an escape in the form of shadow travel

but he stumbled upon a rock,  
a graphite just popped from the ground. that witch.  
as he was about to get up and ran again, his eyes dimmed, he felt his body being vacuumed by a black hole

that he can't stop, he felt the world is shaking. he can't clearly see where he's transported to, it's a blur, a total blur.

"you can run but you can't hide 'di angelo, HAHAHAHAHA" persephone evilly laughed.

nico heard the witch's voice echoing through his ears  
"with this curse, you'll be forced to stay in the mortal world for (2 years) and endure the pain and suffering.

(you won't be needing your shadow travelling powers boy, I locked all the portals you usually travel to,

there's no chance of escaping this curse, you have to deal with it)

but worry not, I shall send marcelo to guard you."  
nico tried to shout some profane words at the voice, but he can't utter a word, it seems the witch got his voice strained  
he desperately wanted to escape , he tried to shut out the voice but to no use he can't, he felt powerless, he felt weak,  
and then his eyelids got heavy and he resisted the urge of sleeping but it overcame him.

the cursed boy is headed to the mortal world.


	3. I am cold, dark and alone

I am cold, dark and alone.

and will always be.

I felt invisible, no one notices or bothers that i'm here, well that's good.

the last thing that i want to deal with is some pesky mortals.

thanks to my step monster for giving me the curse that i'll have to deal for 2 years.

All I have to do is to search for the answer to my problem/curse.

and I don't know where to start.

I'll show that witch, you don't mess with the ' di angelos.

he started roaming around the place, finding for...

he didn't know what he's searching for. every step that he makes the grass withers, flowers ready to bloom turned into gray

and die.

he touched his skull ring, he has a habit of touching that ring whenever he gets anxious.

he tried to shadow travel but he can't, it seems a barrier is placed at the portal, hindering him.

he can imagine persephone laughing, "nice try di angelo, like i've told you, no shadow travel for you"

he tried standing behind a tree, to rest his self from walking, he was surprised to see yellowed leaves falling from above and

as he looked up, the tree slowly dying. he got off from the tree and abandoned the lifeless tree.

as he was roaming around for the park, there was a couple walking their dogs. then all of a sudden, the dogs whimpered

as the dogs caught sight of him, the dogs first made a growling noise and then retreated with a whimper, as if they've seen

a bunch of cats morphed into a monster. the dogs whimpered as they ran pulling their owners away.

nico just stared at those dogs. and then he remembered that animals are scared of him, because animals

can sense death whenever he's around.

"stupid dogs". nico muttered.

after hours of circling the park, his stomach growled.

he looked for a place to eat and saw a hotdog stall near the bridge, he went and fall in line

two strangers in front of him left, he noted and he thought of what to order, he looked at the menu.

"that would be $2.99 lady" said the vendor

nico, surprised by the vendor's voice and suddenly realized he has no money, well he's not totally broke, he has some few

drachmas let inside his jacket's right side pocket but no mortal money, he was desperately hungry,

and he hated talking to strangers but he tapped the lady in front of him, he plans to ask her for some extra change

and now he regrets it, so this is what persephone wants to see,

me, begging money? that thought made his blood boil.

he didn't noticed the lady infront of her made gawking sound as if she made a choking sound.

and she was choking, she tapped the lady, if she was okay, and then the lady, fell.

"oh my gosh!" "what the?" mortals ran to the lady, calling 911.

they thought she had a heart attack while eating a hotdog, "well that was lame" thought nico.

and it occured to him, it was his fault, he forgot about his curse

and didn't notice that when he tapped the lady, her hand froze,

the lady didn't felt her hand, it went numb, and then the 2nd tap, her entire body froze and went out of balance.

nico didn't sensed any death coming, but he hears an ambulance siren alright.

nico backed away, he felt people staring and accusing him, but the truth is people are eager to know

what happened that's why.

he ran,he didn't want that to happen, he just wanted to eat. but that happened.

as he was running, he accidentally bumped into a stranger, a buff guy, looking like a bouncer.

and the stranger reaction wasn't happy, he was furious "what the hell? the stranger roared.

"you better watch where you're goin boy!"

then the stranger pushed nico..

nico landed on the cement, nico irritated on the way how he was treated,

he balled his fist ready to punch the guy (cracks from the cement emerged and fissures surfaced and bones materialized.

nico with his dark expression "you have no right to push me.." nico growled.

"you're gonna pay.." his expression grim.

the stranger shocked but laughed, "i'm no scared of a little boy"

nico lunged forward and grab the collar of the stranger and eventually to his neck.

the stranger cried. "ow! what the?"

the stranger's face went from pulpy red to grape purple as if it will burst then decreasingly turns into white!

it looks blood is drained from his face and the stranger's hair slowly turns to gray.

he makes a suffocating sound "ughh a-aaack,sss-s-s-sto-oop"

nico was taken aback on what he saw. and he immediately released his grip.

the stranger looked like a deflated balloon.

the stranger gags, he fell down and knelt, breathing heavily.

nico didn't expect that to happen, then without thinking, he ran.

hoping this guy won't remember his face.

"okay class, don't forget, next next week will be our halloween party, I encourage you to create your scariest/cutest/most creative

costume, we'll be working on the costumes next week and i'll be helping." cassidy smiles.

"yes teacher" kids in the classroom replied in unison.

" so that's all for today kids".

**school bell rings**

children shuffled to the doors, eager to go home.

*sigh*

cassie glances at the window, and smiles..

CASSIDY'S POV

after class, I go out to the park and refresh myself with nature.

I unchain my bike and went to the usual place to unwind and think.

I stopped at the park,

I saw someone sitting on my favorite spot.


	4. Marcelo the raven

after running, he went to a bench near the fountain and the playground, but he

veered away from the playground, he didn't want some gruesome accident to take place again.

nico sighed. he glanced to a patch of daisies beside the bench.

"happy now?" he looked like an idiot talking to flowers. but he didn't care.

"happy?" then he stomped some flowers/ the daisies out of frustration,

"send that message to her you stupid flowers!" he stomped and grunted, and felt happy

when he saw the flowers now in dirt form.

"don't worry, i'll relay that message to her -gawk-"

nico startled by an annoying voice.

"what the?" nico said.

" hello there, nico son of hades -gawk-"

nico turned to look at the tree where the sound came from.

and there he saw a raven with a yellow unruly patch on his feathers.

what kind of bird is that? nico thought.

"marcelo at your service, or you can call me cello for short -gawk-"

nico wanted to strangle the bird and whoever sent it to him.

nico ignored the bird and turned his back from it.

then nico heard feathers flapping overhead.

and the ugly bird landed beside him.

"what do you want?" nico with his voice desperately wanting the bird to shoo/fly away and don't disturb him

"a nice cracker will do-gawk-"

"so now you're a parrot?"

"yuck-gawk- parrots are snobs, show offs , ugly colorful feathers-gawk-

"look who's talking" nico smirked

"i'm gawking the truth-gawk-"

"so what do you want from me marcelo?"

"call me cello -gawk- i am here to guard you sent by the mistress herself-gawk-"

"so now i need a chaperone? gods she's crazy."

"-gawk- not crazy, you are -gawk-"

as nico is about to yell at the bird, people at the park stared at him, he didn't notice that he's been talking

to a bird alone which is kinda crazy.

nico just bowed his head down and placed his hands inside the pockets of his aviator jacket.

people just went back to their routine, as if they've forgotten the crazy guy talking alone.

"how come people haven't noticed you?"

"-gawk- you can only see me dummy,-gawk- i'm a mere silhouette through their eyes"

"lucky you" nico said with a sigh. "i'm warming up with the curse"

"I've observed that-gawk-"

"thank you for observing" he said sarcastically.

it became quiet for a while and then marcelo shuddered and gawked noisyly

"gawk-gawk-gawk, i need to -gawk go. see you later nico -gawk- don't forget th curse -gaaawwwk-"

and then he flew.

"gee thanks for the reminder" nico said.

and there he was, alone again. and so as he taught.

"hey mister, are you okay?"

nico was caught off guard by the voice beside him and this time it's not cello, there's no gawk

"are you okay?"

as nico looked at the stranger talking to him. he was surprised.

he didn't know what to say. he was just speechless.

"uhh-uhm, yes?" the only words that he uttered.

idiot, what now? nico thought.

he's not used to talking to people, especially girls and he hated his self for that.

nico felt wierd. he felt life radiating from this girl standing beside him. even though she's half

a meter away. he sensed a happy/carefree girl.

of all the people he met and she was different. she was different from the others.

i should stop thinking, he thought.

"excuse me? mr.?"

after i chained my bike, i strapped on my backpack,

led myself to the usual place where i'd sit and rest.

and was surprised to see a guy sitting on my favorite spot!

I wasn't late am i? during thIs time people are busy packing up and going home.

I should settle for another place, don't want to disturb that guy. but! I want that spot! ugh."

maybe he'll be leaving in a few minutes, i'll just wait.

5 minutes passed and still, he's not leaving.

i suddenly observed he was talking.

talking OUT loud, to whom?

to what?

he looked weird from afar, no one sits behind him, or standing in front. he doesn't have a phone

or a bluetooth receiver plugged on his ears

which made it weirder.

then i decided to walk towards him. and as i was getting near,

i heard "gee thanks for the reminder."

and that's when I asked him ""hey mister, are you okay?"

he didn't looked at me. how rude.

then i asked him again "are you okay?"

and then he turned. I was surprised to see, he looked an age older than me or same as my age ?

but i guessed older, he eyes looked dark,sad and kind of empty.

underneath those eyes, are eyebags, a little sunken. which is kinda creepy if you ask me.

he has pale skin,

with unruly messy black hair, he wore a silver skull ring on his left hand

chain for a belt, black t-shirt with skull designs

at his side hung a pure-black sword.

huh, a sword?

this guy's crazy and dangerous.

but i shouldn't judge him through his outward appearance, maybe he came from a party and used that "sword" as his props well I dont know maybe?, and he went an all nighter that's why his eyes and eyebags looked tired and sad.

yeah, i'll just stick to that theory.

the stranger was surprised to see me. which kinda weirded me a little. now what did i do?

i just came to ask if he's okay. it's like he've seen a ghost.

okaay.

"hi!" and I gave my award winning smile just to look friendly.

"uhh-uhm, yes?" the only words that he uttered.

* * *

**hi there! If you happen to read my story.(note: this is my first fan fic) please do leave a comment or review, to see how i'm doin',**

**If i shall continue this story or not. thank youu! :D**


	5. what's with the attitude?

*snap out of it nico* nico thought.

"I uhm, erm- yes?" nico said.

"are you okay?" the girl asked.

"I'm okay, why would you think I'm not?" nico frowned.

"it's just the way you looked.." the girl replied.

"looked what?" nico asked with resentment

"you looked alone like you need someone to talk to.." she smiled.

"who cares? I'm used to it anyway" nico scowled.

"well okay, whatever you say mister grumpy" the girl replied.

"what did you call me?" nico asked

"nothing.." and she replied and smiled teasingly..

what's that supposed to mean? nico contemplated.

"foolish,stupid, annoying mortals.." nico muttered.

"muttering won't do you good, nuh-uh" the annoying girl answered back.

"says who?" I said.

"me." the girl replied.  
"well in that case, I don't care" I muttered back.

"hey i'm just being nice to you, you don't have to be rude.." the girl said  
I can sense she's running out of patience with me. that's good.

"I don't need anyone to be nice to me, just leave me alone!" I finally yelled.

and then people at the park gazed at them, they looked like  
a couple having their LQ.. which is not the case.

"whatever you say," the girl sighed and walked out.

cassie left the grumpy stranger alone with her  
favorite spot in the park.

cassie was hurt and she felt she handled a rude kid with an attitude problem.  
but she just brushed it off, in the first place she's used to those problems  
concerning with kids with attitude, she's a gradeschool/kindergarten teacher after all.  
she doensn't need any additional burden and hurt in her life anymore.

"-tsk, tsk,tsk, -gawk,-gawk-gawk" marcelo made a noise.

"what now?" nico asked

"you're being rude -gawk!-

"so now it's my fault?" nico asked.  
"yes-gawk- your fault."

"annoying, stupid talking bird, leave me alone." nico grumbled.

nico left the park.

* * *

**hi there! If you happen to read my story.(note: this is my first fan fic) please do leave a comment or review, to see how i'm doin',**

**If i shall continue this story or not. thank youu! :D**


	6. disclaimer, better late than never :)

**I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ PJO. Nico Di angelo (the awesome character) that inspired me to **

**create this fanfic. PJO AND NICO DI ANGELO/CHARACTERS BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN. :D**


	7. GRAVEYARD SHIFT

**playlist : M83 - Midnight City ''Warm Bodies Soundtrack"**

after storming out from the park.

nico searched for a place to stay  
and the one place that he immediately thought where he  
felt safe, where no one will bother him is..

no other place than the graveyard.

as he arrived, he never felt home.  
He's used to staying at this kind of place,  
for him as a shadow traveler, he has no time to  
go to a hotel to sleep, he usually goes to a near cemetery  
and there he'll spend the night to rest and when the  
day breaks, he'll go shadow travel again.

he seem to forgot how it feels to live in a house, a home  
a home where his family once lived,  
how her mother will cook dinner for him and her big sister bianca..

he misses his family. Nico yearns to be with them again,  
but he can't, he knows he can't bring them back..

as he walked through the place, he observed the graveyard is deserted and  
abandoned.  
fog settled in the place, it was eerie and creepy.  
withered flowers in pots and weeks old bouquets occupied the tombstones.  
gravestones are filled with grime.  
It's a dreary place to live in but for him, it's home.

as he heard voices and whispers of the undead, as if they're waking up from a  
deep slumber.

"he's here.." a raspy voice said.

"why..?"  
spirits in unison questioned his presence  
at their graveyard.

some ghosts rose from the ground, some creeped in from their tombs  
zombies sneaked a peek from behind the tombstones.

"the ghost king.."  
then a male voice that echoed through the cemetery, his voice sounded like a  
leader, with strength and power.

with all the voices whispering at once nico can't seem to find where that voice came from.

"Welcome ghost king.." the leader's voice bellowed.

"show yourself" nico commanded.

"as you wish my king.." the voice answered.

and a billow of smoke rolled upward from a headstone dated from 1950s

the ghost appeared, he looked transparent, like a ghoulish white sheet (no pun intended)  
the ghost's eyes glowed dark gray; the ghost's image flickered to an image  
of a man in a soldier in uniform.

"huh." nico huffed.  
"is there a problem, your majesty?" asked the ghost soldier.  
"I need a place to sleep" nico ordered.  
"yes of course, I shall find you a place.."

"good."

then the ghost soldier led him through the biggest tombhouse located in  
the cemetery.

"I apologize, if this isn't too big for you sire". said the ghost soldier

"this will be fine for me, now leave me in peace."

"as you wish". and the ghost soldier retreated outside to let their honored guest/ghost king have  
his privacy and for him to rest.

nico roamed around the mausoleum, read the engraving from the tombstones.  
he discovered that the mausoleum has a second floor.  
so he climbed up the roof, overlooking the view of the entire cemetery.  
he sat on the roof, with the chilly air hung in the air.  
the ghost king watched the entire graveyard from a bird's eye view.

he felt home, he sensed death, misery and grief alright,  
he had a hard time falling asleep. that's no surprise,  
he's used to it anyway, he's an insomniac.  
but there's one problem, there's that nagging thought  
he can't seem to shake it off from his mind..

nico pounded his head with his fist, trying to get rid off it,

but to no use, it stayed and haunted him.

he can't dismiss the thought of her, the annoying girl he met awhile ago..

* * *

**I enjoyed working on this chapter. teehee, I don't know, maybe it's because of the song replayed**

**on my head. try listening to it! It's a bit haunting and hypnotizing but hey it's a great song! :)**

please leave a review or pm me? to see how i'm doin' constructive criticisms are welcomed!

i'll be posting the next chapter this friday. I'll be focusing on mah thesis first :))


	8. Delivery from hell

**DELIVERY** from hell.

as the sun seeps in the mausoleum,  
daylight's breaking in, Nico was awaken by the sunshine that strained his eyes.

he groaned, and stretched his arms wide and got up from bed.

great. he thought. another day to live in.. he's definitely not a morning person that's for sure.  
He hated the sunlight, the birds chirping on trees, the aroma of coffee  
and fresh baked goods, and the cheerful people greeting you "good morning"...  
he left his bed, without fixing it, he knows that the ghost servants would fix it for him.

he roamed around the cemetery just to take a good look on the site.  
the ghosts who appeared last night are asleep, graveyard shift's over.  
Nico noticed a few people coming in the cemetery, visting their dead loved ones.  
He find this quite amusing. Mortals visit their dearly beloved.  
some of them brought flowers. He saw a lady in mid 30s kneeled and placed the flowers  
on the grass and wept. Fresh sorrows. Nico also observed an old man with a cane  
cradling a bouquet and laid it down on the grass, where his wife is buried.  
He can hear the whispers of the dead from the spot where the mortals are buried.  
Nico, heard "I missed you so much dear..", "I made a mistake, I shouldn't be here.." "help me.."

"good morning -gawk!-" marcelo interrupted his thoughts.  
he keeps on doing that, and it's getting on his nerves.

Nico ignored marcelo and continued listening to the voices.  
"-gawk-gawk, special deliveryyyyyyyy- gawwwwkk-!"

nico's link of thoughts was interrupted by that disturbing announcement from the bird.  
"what in hades?" nico said irritated.

"geez, somebody woke up at the wrong side of the bed -gawk-"  
nico gave marcelo the evil eye/look/dagger looks.

marcelo flew and dropped a potted plant in front of him.  
nico saw it and was disgusted by it.  
he lift his right foot ready to stomp and kick the pot.

marcelo interrupted him by saying "I wouldn't do that if I were you, -gawk-"  
"I don't care." nico answered.

"you should care di angelo..." a voice echoed.  
nico stopped midway on stepping on the pot. he searched for the voice.  
"I don't need to.." nico answered.  
and the voice answered and it's coming from marcelo, but the strange thing is,  
it's not marcelo who's talking it's persephone. She used marcelo as a puppet/speaker.  
marcelo's eyes turned yellow, he's placed in a trance.

marcelo's beak opened and persephone's voice came out and warned nico.

"inside this pot, lay a seed. that you need to tend..The flower will serve as your  
curse's timeline.. for now you may see it as a useless pot with dirt, but as time goes by,  
this little plant of yours will determine if the curse has been lifted from you or will it stay  
forever with you" persephone's voice was serious.

"how will I know if my curse is lifted from me?" nico asked her.

"you shall know if the time has come, if the flower will be in complete bloom"

"so you gave me a curse and an unpleasant task to babysit a plant, this is lame!"

"di angelo, it is not lame, this is exciting! you'll need to water it everyday, remove it's weeds,  
and it should have enough sunshine and don't let marcelo eat the seed, I only gave you one seed and make it count.."

"whatever you say, stepmonster.."

"watch your words di angelo, you wouldn't want me to add another curse on you wretched boy!"

nico ignored the voice and got a hold of the plant.

and the voice was gone. and marcelo -gawked and gawked- like he swallowed a bunch of mice at one gulp without chewing it.

"what happened?-gawk?"

"you got possessed by my step monster and I have to the deal with this."

"the plant I delivered-gawk-I saw a seed there-gawk-"

"don't even think about it.." nico snapped.

nico went back to the mausoleum where he spent the night and placed the plant beside his bed on the window.  
he ordered for a water sprinkler from the ghost servants, and after a few seconds, he got the water sprinkler and  
bathe the plant with cold water and left the plant in the window.

he went outside and wandered/ not knowing where to go, (he just let himself be lead by his feet..)

Nico roamed around the place he'll be staying for 2 years with his curse. EDIT  
He thought he should familiar with the place knowing that he'll spend much more of his  
time here.

he familiarize his self with the community.  
he saw where the drugstore is, the supermarket, the hospital, the cafes  
and restaurants and the lake, train station and the park where he  
stayed and met the annoying girl.  
he walked and walked and walked, with marcelo  
following and looking after him. he eventually got tired from walking.

"I prefer shadow traveling rather than walking." nico grumbled  
"walking is good for you nico-gawk- plus it's an exercise for you-gawk"

"yeah right." he answered sarcastically.

as he was about to turn his back and return to the graveyard to take a nap,  
he heard the annoying girl's voice..

it was not far from where he stands,  
he suddenly remembered her.  
nico followed the voice, and it was quite loud.  
and it was across the street, the community kindergarten school.

He saw the little signage outside the school. it read  
"montessori kindergarten community school"

"huh?" nico huffed.  
he never thought, he'd find her there.

so he decided to take a peek through the window,

he had a hard time peeking from a window full of posted hand painted artworks made by children.  
he found a spot and peeked through.

and there she was, standing in a chaotic room full of children.  
A lot of children, were running around screaming and throwing paint.

there is total pandemonium inside the classroom.

* * *

**so here the latest chapter, as promised :) actually I've finished the next chapter, I'll post it maybe on tues morning maybe?**

**I've decided not to rely on reviews if i shall continue the story or not, I'll finish this alongside with my thesis :)**

**but please still do leave some reviews, if you love it/liked it/hated it or i messed up with my grammar or whatever.**

**I just want to know your reactions on the story! :)**


	9. visitor or intruder

**Cassie's POV**  
my day was doing great until little kyle flung his paintbrush oozing with green washable poster paint  
at shelley's face as a sort of revenge, when shelley teased him for drawing an ugly dinosaur.  
she said it looked like a sick ugly bird who threw up after eating broccoli for dinner.  
little kyle being the sensitive and hot tempered kid, he didn't took it well.

and that's the cause,  
the effect?

paint fight.

paint splattered across the room, shelley screamed "teacher cassieeeeeeee!" and she grabbed her paintbrush  
dipped it with the pink paint beside her and hurled a massive blob on kyle's head and again, paint sprayed and hit the  
other kids, the other kids thought it was okay and that my friend gave them the horrible idea to play with paint at their  
classmates, some started smearing paint with each other's face, the boys imitated kyle and started flinging paint at girls,  
shouting " take that, dino haters!" and "paint fiiiight!" the girls shrieked and cried. the boys unleashed paint havoc and laughed.

by the time shelley screamed, that's when she got my attention, you see I'm pretty busy with my halloween trick or treat plans  
with these kids. I stood up, and shouted "kiiiiiids! stop it! stop the paint fiiigh- and then all of a sudden  
paint splattered and strewn on my face, head on and on my cardigan.  
I inevitably tasted the paint and believe me, you don't want to taste it.

still stunned, I immediately wiped off the sticky paint on my face, and yelled.  
"shelley, stop that!, kyle, drop the brush!, logan, peter, abe, chris! stop it!"

some of my girls are crying with paint smudged on their faces. They all looked like cute little aliens.  
(I too, wanted to cry. HAHAHA! kidding.)  
I scanned the room, there's paint everywhere, on the doors, shelves,windows, floor and the ceiling  
yep we're in a total mess right now.

I don't know where to start, yelling to stop the paint fight or comfort the crying kids.  
(when situations like these gets messy, I know what to do. Thank God for seminars,  
I reached for the whistle from my table's drawer and took a deep breath and blew the whistle so hard that  
I got all their attention). well that's more like it.  
another crazy messy day with these kids.

* * *

**Nico's POV**

I heard a kid yelled "paint fiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" and that's when the war of the paint began.

it was a fun thing to watch, especially when a kid accidentally splattered a generous amount of  
green paint at their teacher. HAHAHA. it was hilarious. you could have seen her face!

I laughed at the chaos inside the classroom, the annoying girl who happens to be the teacher, looks upset and started shouting  
at the kids to stop. Her shouting did no use to stop the paint fight, she was about to give up,  
what surprised me is when she pulled something from her drawer and placed it in her mouth and  
a loud screech resonated inside the classroom, that got all the kids' attention.

the kids, dropped their brush, the girls crying on the corner stopped and looked at their teacher.

"look at yourselves. shelley and kyle, you two are in big trouble." and the teacher eyed the two kids at the back.  
"the rest of you fall in line and go to the bathroom and clean up, or no trick or treat on friday".

gods that was entertaining!  
and all of a sudden, the girl,teacher glanced at the window, on where I stand.  
oh schist! she saw me! So I immediately hid at the bushes.

* * *

It was quite a show really.  
He've never seen such entertainment such as these in the underworld.  
Too much suffering, crying, and grief in there and he's kinda tired of it, but this,  
this is new to him. Although he didn't like kids, for him his idea being with kids is like babysitting which is irritating and would bore  
him to tears, however after watching of what had happened, he decided he'll be stopping over every once in a while during his  
wandering..

"hey marcelo, we've gotta go..I need to take a nap" nico talked to marcelo.  
"okay boss -gawk-"  
and they returned back to the graveyard.

the sun is setting and it's beginning to get dark.  
Nico walked through and went straight to the mausoleum, as he was getting near, he heard a crash.  
"-gawk, what is that sound? -gawk-"  
"an intruder.." nico frowned.

he immediately climbed up on the second floor and found the pot shattered into pieces and the soil scattered on the floor.  
"what the hell?" he angrily shouted. "who did this?" "I'll forever imprison you in tartarus!"  
"servants!" he called the ghost servants

and the ghost servants appeared, shocked at the sight, apparently they weren't at the incident when it happened.  
"ghost king, it's not our fault, we never go inside this room, unless if summoned" they nervously answered.  
"if I found out, that one of you are lying, you shall suffer my-" he stopped halfway when he heard a whimper.

It came from under his bed.  
"-gawk, nico, it's under your bed!-gawk-"

"i'm on it" he answered. he got his black stygian sword ready, preparing to exterminate the intruder who broke his plant,  
his right hand holding and raising his sword armed to strike for the kill, and on his left hand grasping the bedsheet,  
to unveil the intuder.  
Nico lifted the bedsheet and was about to swing the sword, he stopped and saw a puppy..

"what in hades?" nico his anger turned to confusion.  
the puppy whimpered. It's not just an ordinary puppy, it's in skeletal form. The skeleton puppy trembled at the sight of nico,  
it whimpered and gave a low bark. Frightened, he retreated back and curled up, as his form of defense, its bones clattered.

"OUT!". nico shouted.  
the puppy whimpered.  
"so you're the culprit, who broke my stupid plant"  
the clattered worsened.  
"gawk, get out puppy!-gawk"  
the puppy scared, he lifted his head and looked at nico. If he's still alive, he could've used his puppy eyes, to get out of his mess,  
but the odds aren't in favor with him. The puppy's hollow eyes bored into nico's. Nico just stared at it,  
"you can't trick me, when I count to three you should be out here or..."

"1.."  
the puppy whimpered.  
"2.."  
the puppy slowly walked out of the bed with his bones still clattering.  
"3.."  
the puppy sighed, and whimpered.

ghost servants started cleaning up the shattered pot on the floor, nico break them off by saying "I'll do it, all of you are dismissed"  
he knelt down on the floor and cleaned up the mess. he gently scooped the golden seed and placed it in his avaitor pocket. and sweeped the  
dirt and threw the broken ceramic away.

"I'll deal with you later" he warned the skeleton puppy.  
"marcelo, guard it, don't let him off of your sight or you're dead, i'll be back" nico said.

he went down, and searched for the nearest hardware store looking for a brand new pot to shelter his plant.  
he got a new pot and run back to the graveyard, he didn't notice that it's almost graveyard shift, he digged some soil at the back of the mausoleum  
a vacant lot, and put some the soil on the pot, and carefully buried the seed and watered it,after that he went upstairs.

"-gawk, you shouldn't have done that-gawk"  
the puppy let a small growl and the bones clattered.  
"I know,-gawk- it's just an accident you just have to know the rules here-gawwk-"  
the puppy just nodded and bowed his head, still ashamed of what he'd done.

"i'm back.." nico announced.  
"I see you found a new pot-gawk-"  
"I bought a plastic one, so if just in case an accident might happen again, it wouldn't shatter" nico explained  
"good thinking-gawwwk-"  
nico returned the pot where he used to place it, near beside his bed, on the window.  
"there." nico sighed.

"uhh, ghost king, what are we going to do with him-gawk-?" marcelo reminded nico  
nico completely forgotten about the puppy, "oh yeah, hmmm..let's see.." nico said.

* * *

Cassie's POV

after a tedious clean up with the kids, I talked to shelley and kyle after class. I told them, the two of them are on cleaners duty  
for the next week and they should learn how to work together if not another week will be added or their punishment.  
The two kids resented their punishments and was forced to agree.  
after that, I unchained my bike and pedaled my way home and called beaglee. "hey girl!I missed youuu, so ready for a walk?"  
I plucked some of my flowers from my garden. "ruff!" answered beaglee my tricolored dog, so I put beaglee on a leash and walked,  
and said "let's go visit my old friend." Beaglee and I walked around the park and decided to go the cemetery.  
beaglee whimpered, "it's okay girl, no need to be scared.." with her calm assuring voice.

so they entered the cemetery, went a little further south, went near the church and stopped.  
cassie and her beagle stopped and looked at the gravestone.  
it was eeriely quiet here, but she didn't care.

the writing on the gravestone said.  
boomer the puppy  
-here lies a brave corgi-  
you will always be remembered.

"hey there."  
"ruff!"  
"beaglee, I'd like you to meet boomer"  
"boomer, meet beaglee"  
beaglee hid behind cassie. and whimpered.  
and cassie laid down her bouquet of flowers onto boomer's grave.  
and sat on the grass, beaglee followed and sat on cassie's lap, longing for her caress.  
"I miss you boomer, hope you're still alive and play with beaglee"  
and tears rolled down on her cheeks.  
beaglee whimpered and comforted cassie by nudging his fur on her,

she spent another 10 minutes and decided to go home, thinking, "I still need to work on that  
trick or treat plans.."  
cassie tugged beaglee. "let's go beaglee.." as cassie walked towards the exit of the cemetery.

beaglee barked and barked at the gravestone, cassie turned and looked.  
"what are you barking at girl?" cassie asked beaglee  
"ruff! ruff! *growl* ruff!"

if only beaglee could talk, he would say to cassie. "cassie! there's a skeleton dog hiding behind your dog's grave! look!"

but she doesn't understand dog talk.

boomer's bones clattered. boomer managed to hid behind the gravestone, so cassie won't see him,  
but beaglee caught him.  
beaglee growled and barked at him. saying "who are you? what are you doing there?

the skeleton dog didn't answer, instead its bones clattered as an answer. skeleton dog stared and stayed hidden.

and then beaglee gave a last bark and retreated to cassie.  
"you're acting strange.. let's go home, you need rest." cassie said to beaglee  
and beaglee cast a last glimpse and the skeleton puppy hiding behind the gravestone was gone.

* * *

**NICO's POV**

Nico was hiding behind the shadows, saw the entire scene. He saw the annoying girl again, and what surprised him  
is that the dog who sneaked into his room was the annoying girl's dead dog.

after the coast is clear, the girl and her dog left the graveyard. Nico emerged from the shadows and walk towards  
where the skeleton puppy stood. his own grave.  
"so that's your owner huh?"

rattled by the sudden creep in by nico. the skeleton puppy jumped and some of it bones scattered.  
on the grass, leaving the puppy helpless with it's empty left arm  
the skeleton puppy limped to retrieve his fragile bones, and that's when nico interfered. Nico collected the pieces one by one.  
"stay where you are" nico ordered. When nico finished collecting the bones, he went to the skeleton puppy and offered help.  
"sorry, I scared ya." he assembled the bones back on the puppy's arm and after a few minutes, the limp was gone and the puppy can  
walk again. The puppy seeing this, it became ecstatic and jumped at nico, giving him a nudge from his head. skeleton puppy jumping  
up and down. if it's alive it would give nico a sloppy kiss.

"whoa, easy there, you don't want to wreck your bones again" nico laughs.  
his laugh echoed through the graveyard. It was quite unusual, hearing laughter in a place where sorrows and grief resided.  
marcelo entered in "are you okay, nico, -gawk-?"

"yeah, hahaha, why?" still laughing, the puppy cuddling him.  
"I heard laughing, and never thought it would be coming from you..-gawk-"  
nico stopped laughing, "you've got a problem with that?" nico scoffed.  
"-gawk, no, not at all. -gawk-"  
"good."  
the skeleton puppy climbed at nico's shoulders, sat and yawned. Nico patted the puppy and the skeleton puppy yawned again  
and rested its head on to nico's neck and went asleep. Nico handled the puppy's rear end, protecting it from falling.  
"gawkk, new friend?-gawk" "oh shut up.." Nico replied as he was walking back to his room.

nico went back to the mausoleum to rest and beside him is a sleeping skeleton puppy and marcelo perched above his bed frame.

***special thanks to viria! on her artwork of nico with a skeleton cat (?) on top of his head has inspired me to work on this chapter.**  
**I was surprised to add the scene, I'm not planning of the skeleton puppy, but it came as a whirlwind, so yeah, I think it kinda worked.**  
**hope you'd like this! please R&R :) I'll try to update my story next week tuesday :)**


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